The 36-year-old bantamweight had been scheduled to compete Sept. 7
at Bellator 98 in Uncasville, Conn. However, he was scratched from
the card after the Mohegan Tribal Athletic Department did not to
clear him medically. The commission had raised a concern over
Warren’s MRI, though Warren said it ended up being an “image
abnormality.”

“It sucked, but I have babies at home,” Warren said. “I was more
worried about making sure everything was OK.”

There was also the stress of being told he may never fight again.
Of course, he was soon cleared to fight and three weeks later he
was back in the ring, armbarring semifinal opponent Nick Kirk. The
finish was nice, but Warren would have liked to showcase his
striking.

“My hands are so nasty,” he said. “My hands are nasty right now. …
I was really anxious. I wanted to get to him so bad. It’s hard for
me to stand back and understand distance when someone blows the
whistle and I know the guy wants to get to me. If I would have been
able to bring my heart rate down a little bit and stay a little
calmer in the first, I would have finished it on my feet. I really
thought I’d probably knock him to his back and finish him with
ground-and-pound, but my submission stuff right now and control was
so strong that that kind of was a freak position. I tried to take
his back in a mount and he rolled underneath and I locked that
triangle up and I just kind of stayed calm until I had his arm
extended. I just popped that elbow right out.”

Next up is Marx, who advanced to the tournament final by stopping
Brandon
Bender. In the opening round, Marx outpointed Chase
Beebe.

“I don’t really know much about him,” Warren said. “I know he’s a
lefty and I think he’s a little older fighter like me. I don’t
really care. He’s just another body in front of me that I’m going
to run through. I believe I’m primed up ready for this belt run and
this is the next guy in my way.”